Hot Topics:

Baldonado family to honor ancestors at Bataan Memorial Death March

By Steve Ramirez / sramirez@lcsun-news.com

Posted:
03/09/2013 02:16:41 PM MST

Click photo to enlarge

A large group of marchers make it through mile eight of the 2012 Bataan Death March as a total of 6,786 participants braved the heat of the New Mexico desert at White Sands Missile Range and endured the 23rd annual event commemorating the trek to prison camps in 1942. The 24th annual march will commence on March 17 at WSMR.

LAS CRUCES — Camp Baldonado will be resurrected again this year during the 24th annual Bataan Memorial Death March.

It will be a family reunion with as many as 80 relatives gathered to celebrate their lineage and commemorate the memories of two special ancestors who have been memorialized at the Bataan Monument, at Veterans Memorial Park, 2651 Roadrunner Parkway.

"We're carrying that theme and we're having banners made," said Las Crucen Joe Martinez, whose uncles were among the American soldiers who were surrendered to Japanese forces at the Battle of Bataan and forced marched to prison camps. "We're going to have a banner crop this year, with at least 13 or 14 RVs, about 50 to 60 family members and about 20 doing the march."

The Baldonado family will join more than 5,500 people who have registered to participate in the march, to be conducted March 17 on and near White Sands Missile Range's main post. Unlike recent years, this year's march isn't going to set any records for participation.

"As of midnight Thursday, there were 5,566 people that had registered for the event," said Lisa Blevins, WSMR spokeswoman. "Last year, we had a record crowd of 6,786."

But Blevins predicts the final number of participants will grow. Event organizers are still expecting some mail-in registrations that haven't arrived yet.

"I'd guess the economy is probably a pretty good reason why it's not another record crowd this year," said Las Crucen Dani Tyler, who will march in the 14.

Advertisement

2-mile event. "We still haven't recovered well enough that more people can come from wherever to participate. Still, it sounds like it's going to be a good crowd, and the event is always first rate."

The march is conducted annually to commemorate the sacrifices and countless acts of bravery and heroism of World War II soldiers that were forced marched to Japanese prison camps, or "Hell Ships" that took some prisoners of war to forced-labor camps throughout Japan.

The conditions they encountered before, during and after the Battle of Bataan, in April 1942 were brutal and horrific. They fought in a malaria-infested region, surviving on half or quarter rations with little or no medical help. They fought with outdated equipment and virtually no air power.

On April 9, 1942, thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces. The Americans were Army, Army Air Corps, Navy and Marines. Among those captured were more than 1,800 members of the 200th Coast Artillery of the New Mexico National Guard.

They were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles. Thousands died. Those who survived faced the hardships of years in prisoner of war camps. Others were wounded or killed when unmarked enemy ships transporting prisoners of war to Japan were sunk by U.S. air and naval forces.

"It's an event that, on the surface, would be considered a marathon or half marathon. But the reality is it's so much more than that," said Trini Sanchez, a Las Cruces Vietnam veteran who has participated in two Bataan Memorial Death Marches. "For a lot of veterans, it's not too hard to get emotional during the march when you think about everything those guys had to go through, and put up with. The two times I've marched, I got choked up thinking about those guys at Bataan and comparing that to some of the experiences I went thorough in Vietnam with some of my combat brothers."

Steve Ramirez can be reached at 575-541-5452. Follow him on Twitter @SteveRamirez6

— The 24th annual Bataan Memorial Death March will be March 17 at White Sands Missile Range

— More than 5,500 people will participate in this year's event

— Last year, a record number of 6,786 marched

— The event includes 26.2-mile and 14.2 mile courses

— The march will commemorate the 71st anniversary of the Bataan Death March, which involved more than 1,800 New Mexicans who were surrendered to Japanese forces after the Battle of Bataan in April 1942